DECLARATION ON ETHICS IN JEWISH LEADERSHIP

Unethical behavior among Jewish leaders has reached crisis levels in the American Jewish community. It seems hardly a week passes without news of yet another scandal involving rabbis, Jewish organizational professionals, or other individuals in leadership positions. These disturbing developments make a mockery of Jewish values, shatter the trust that we have placed in our community's leaders, and alienate young people from Judaism.

Whether the offenses involve interpersonal relations, employer-employee relations, or Jewish governance of institutions and organizations, and whether the victims are Jews or non-Jews, the result is the same: individuals in positions of power exploiting their power to disadvantage and, in many cases, traumatize others.

As committed and engaged members of the Jewish community, we appeal to Jewish institutions of all denominations and factions to embrace the following core principles of ethical behavior, which are anchored in the time-honored values we cherish as Jews and Americans:

1. Concealing evidence of unethical behavior is itself unethical and antithetical to Jewish values. Moreover, it enables the perpetrators to perpetuate their shameful conduct, by allowing them to freely move to other communities and institutions where they may repeat their offenses.

2. Excusing the offenders' conduct or blaming the victims for coming forward is intolerable. The fact that a perpetrator is held in high esteem, whether rabbinic, academic, or communal, should not be a deterrent to exposing his or her misdeeds.

3. Whistle blowers should be encouraged. Those who have information about inappropriate behavior by Jewish leaders should be urged to come forward, without fear of retaliation or ostracism by the community.

4. Jewish institutions and organizations should treat their employees according to the same principles of fairness, respect, and non-discrimination that American law requires of all other employers.

5. Jewish institutions and organizations should be governed in accordance with the principle of complete financial and administrative transparency. Failure to file U.S. government-required disclosure documents impedes the Jewish public's access to information to which it is entitled.

6. Jewish institutions and organizations should adopt a system of checks and balances to ensure their leadership is responsible and accountable.

7. Jewish organizations should hold regular democratic elections for their senior leadership positions. Elections in which there is only one candidate, or in which voting is restricted to only a portion of the membership, raise questions as to whether the culture of that organization is sufficiently democratic and participatory. With regard to positions that are not subject to elections, the size of an individual's donations to the institution should not be the decisive factor in determining his or or her selection.

8. Jewish organizations should adopt term limits, to combat the phenomenon of entrenched and self-perpetuating leaders.

9. The leaders of Jewish institutions and organizations should not receive excessive financial remuneration. Salary levels should correspond to a minimal portion of the budgets of those institutions.

10. Jewish institutions must have zero tolerance for racial, ethnic, or gender discrimination. Those who practice such discrimination should be considered unsuitable for leadership positions.